The present disclosure relates to outbound transactions, and more specifically, to outbound transactions to an enterprise information system (EIS).
Communication over the Internet and similar computer networks where components and communication pathways have a tendency to change more easily lends itself to loosely coupled connections using service oriented architectures (SOA). Loose coupling describes a relationship between two or more computer systems exchanging data where each end of a communication or transaction makes its requirements explicit and makes few assumptions about the other end. Loose coupling lends itself to replaceable components within or at either end of a communication pathway.
SOA is a perspective of software architecture where services are used to support the requirements of software users. Nodes in an SOA environment make resources available to other participants in the network as independent services that a participant may use in a standardized way. Services interoperate based on a formal definition, or contact, which is independent from the underlying platform and programming language. Software components are reusable and replaceable because the interface is standards-compliant and independent of the underlying implementation of the service. SOA can support integration with a complex enterprise information system (EIS).
An EIS is a complex computing system that supports a high quality of service, usually dealing with large volumes of data, and is capable of supporting a large organization, such as a banking system or a large retail chain. Examples of enterprise information systems are Oracle®, PeopleSoft®, and SAP®. SAP is a program used for managing business information, customer relations, supply chains, human resources, and product lifecycles, among other services. SAP and other enterprise information systems may exchange information with other enterprise information systems. Application servers facilitate information exchange. An example of an application server is the WebSphere® Process Server (WPS). In general, an application server includes an adapter to interface with an enterprise information system, such as SAP, with another enterprise information system or for a client application.
One form of communication between enterprise information systems is that of a transaction. A transaction involves a related collection of operations. A transaction has the properties of atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability. Atomicity means that all of the operations are applied or none of them are applied. For example, in a financial transaction, a credit to one account and debit to another account must both be applied or neither applied. Consistency means that the transaction represents a correct transformation of the application state. For example, in a financing, the sum of all asset accounts must equal the sum of all liabilities. Isolation means that the effects of one transaction do not affect other transactions executing concurrently. Durability means that once a transaction successfully completes, changes to the application will survive failures. This is usually accomplished through backing up data and error recovery.
One method for communicating with an SAP application is to use a form of the remote function call (“RFC”) protocol. Transactional RFC (“tRFC”) protocol is used for asynchronous transactions. SAP applications may use the application link enabling (“ALE”) interface or a similar interface for processing asynchronous transactions. Transactions may be inbound or outbound. Outbound transactions with an SAP application are from the perspective of an adapter in communication with the SAP application and cover transactions transmitted to the SAP application from the adapter.